I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 909 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to implement 

a drug testing program for applicants for and recipients of assistance 

under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2013 

Mr. FINCHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require 

States to implement a drug testing program for applicants for and recipients of assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Welfare Integrity Act 

5 of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DRUG TESTING PROGRAM FOR APPLICANTS FOR 

2 AND RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE UNDER 

3 STATE TANF PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT OF DRUG TESTING

5 PROGRAM.—Section 402(a) of the Social Security Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 602(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(8) CERTIFICATION THAT THE STATE WILL

9 OPERATE AN ILLEGAL DRUG USE TESTING PRO10 GRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A certification by the 

12 chief executive officer of the State that the 

13 State will— 

14 ‘‘(i) operate a program to conduct, in 

15 a calendar year, random testing for the use 

16 of illegal drugs (as defined in section 

17 408(a)(13)(G)(i)) of a number of appli18 cants for assistance under the program re19 ferred to in paragraph (1) that is not less 

20 than 20 percent of the number of appli21 cants who applied for the assistance in the 

22 preceding calendar year (after having 

23 signed a waiver of constitutional rights 

24 with respect to the testing); and 

25 ‘‘(ii) deny the assistance to applicants 

26 who test positive for illegal drug use or 


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1 who are convicted of drug-related crimes, 

2 as required by such section. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR CONTINUED

4 TESTING.—The program described in subpara5 graph (A)(i) shall include a plan to continue 

6 testing individuals receiving assistance under 

7 the program referred to in paragraph (1) for il8 legal drug use at random or set intervals after 

9 the initial testing of the individuals, at the dis10 cretion of the State agency administering the 

11 program so referred to.’’. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENT THAT APPLICANTS AND INDIVID13 UALS RECEIVING ASSISTANCE BE TESTED FOR ILLEGAL

14 DRUG USE.—Section 408(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 608(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(13) REQUIREMENT FOR DRUG TESTING; DE17 NIAL OF ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS FOUND TO

18 HAVE USED ILLEGAL DRUGS AND INDIVIDUALS CON19 VICTED OF DRUG-RELATED OFFENSES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State to which a 

21 grant is made under section 403 shall operate 

22 a drug testing program that complies with the 

23 requirements of subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B) 

24 of section 402(a)(8). 


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1 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OF CONSTITUTIONAL

2 RIGHTS.—The State may not use any part of 

3 the grant to provide assistance to any individual 

4 who has not signed a waiver of constitutional 

5 rights with respect to testing conducted pursu6 ant to subparagraph (A). In the case of an indi7 vidual who is receiving assistance under the 

8 State program funded under this part on the 

9 effective date of this paragraph, or whose appli10 cation for the assistance is approved before 

11 such date if the assistance has not begun as of 

12 such date, a State may not provide the assist13 ance to the individual unless the individual has 

14 signed such a waiver not later than 90 days 

15 after such date. 

16 ‘‘(C) DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE FOR INDI17 VIDUALS WHO TEST POSITIVE FOR ILLEGAL

18 DRUG USE AND INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF

19 DRUG-RELATED CRIMES.—In the case of— 

20 ‘‘(i) an individual who tests positive 

21 for illegal drug use under the program de22 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 

23 ‘‘(ii) an individual who is convicted of 

24 a drug-related crime after the effective 

25 date of this paragraph; 


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1 the State shall not provide assistance to the in2 dividual under the State program funded under 

3 this part until the expiration of the waiting pe4 riod described in subparagraph (D). 

5 ‘‘(D) WAITING PERIOD AFTER DENIAL OF

6 BENEFITS.—The waiting period described in 

7 this subparagraph shall extend 1 year after the 

8 date on which the individual is denied assist9 ance under subparagraph (C). 

10 ‘‘(E) PERMANENT DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE

11 AFTER THIRD DRUG-RELATED DENIAL.—In the 

12 case of an individual who is denied assistance 

13 under subparagraph (C) 3 times, as a result of 

14 3 separate positive tests for illegal drug use, 3 

15 separate convictions for drug-related crimes 

16 (not including convictions that are imposed con17 currently in time), or any combination of 3 such 

18 separate tests or convictions, a State may not 

19 provide assistance to the individual under the 

20 State program funded under this part after the 

21 3rd such test or conviction. 

22 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION ON WAIVER AUTHOR23 ITY.—The Secretary may not waive the provi24 sions of this paragraph under section 1115. 

25 ‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(i) ILLEGAL DRUG.—The term ‘ille2 gal drug’ means a controlled substance as 

3 defined in section 102 of the Controlled 

4 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 

5 ‘‘(ii) DRUG-RELATED CRIME.—The 

6 term ‘drug-related crime’ means any crime 

7 involving the possession, use, or sale of an 

8 illegal drug.’’. 

9 (c) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT ILLEGAL

10 DRUG USE TESTING PROGRAM.—Section 409(a) of such 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(17) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT

14 ILLEGAL DRUG USE TESTING PROGRAM.—If the Sec15 retary determines that a State to which a grant is 

16 made under section 403 in a fiscal year has violated 

17 section 408(a)(13) during the fiscal year, the Sec18 retary shall reduce the grant payable to the State 

19 under section 403(a)(1) for the immediately suc20 ceeding fiscal year by an amount equal to 10 percent 

21 of the State family assistance grant.’’. 

22 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

25 shall take effect on the 1st day of the 1st calendar 


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1 quarter that begins on or after the date that is 1 

2 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

4 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan under sec5 tion 402(a) of the Social Security Act which the Sec6 retary of Health and Human Services determines re7 quires State legislation (other than legislation appro8 priating funds) in order for the plan to meet the ad9 ditional requirements imposed by the amendments 

10 made by this Act, the State plan shall not be re11 garded as failing to comply with the requirements of 

12 such section 402(a) solely on the basis of the failure 

13 of the plan to meet such additional requirements be14 fore the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter begin15 ning after the close of the 1st regular session of the 

16 State legislature that begins after the date of enact17 ment of this Act. For purposes of the previous sen18 tence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legis19 lative session, each year of such session shall be 

20 deemed to be a separate regular session of the State 

21 legislature. 

Æ 


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